


Session 6 - Fast as lighting and moody as a thunderstorm

by Munnin



Series: The Darthen Empire Campaign [8]
Category: Pathfinder (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Bluebooking, Grief/Mourning, No context outside the campaign, RPG notes, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, campaign diary, please ignore unless you're playing this game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 17:06:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19089379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Munnin/pseuds/Munnin
Summary: Still processing Piotr's death, Cass throws herself carelessly into a dangerous situation. And gets her throat bruised. Again.





	Session 6 - Fast as lighting and moody as a thunderstorm

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for the scattered and solipsistic tone. Cass is working her way through the stages of grief in... unhelpful ways. 
> 
> Don’t bother reading this unless you're playing Pathfinder with me. It really won’t make sense. This is just a spot for me to host some bluebooking / out of session prose. It's not meant for anyone not playing and isn't written to make a lick of sense. I’m just feeding the muses so they let me sleep.

Cass knew she’d made a mistake the moment she heard the voice - deep and guttural and fierce. The monstrous creature three times her height with jutting teeth and a crown of spined horns. It was armed with a spear that would reach her with ease.

Just as she had with the wolves, she had run ahead. And just as with the wolves, she would suffer for it. 

The butt of the spear clipped the back of her knees before she could run, sending her sprawling. All grace and trickery knocked out of her with a swing. 

Then it gripped her by the throat, shaking and yelling at her, demanding to know her intentions. 

She felt fear and panic lance through her, the memory of the wolf’s teeth too fresh on her mind. Last night? The night before? It seemed so long ago. 

Before Piotr died. 

Again, it demanded she speak, shaking her roughly. She clamped down on her words, staring back at it. She would not give it the pleasure of her fear, the satisfaction of hearing her voice.

It smashed her into the ground and she felt ribs break, her arm dislocate. Blood filled her mouth as it hauled her up again, rage in its voice. 

It was not accustomed to this. To defiance. 

And she would defy it. To her last breath if needs be. 

_I will see you soon, Piotr. Then you can laugh at me._

But Shino was there, a distraction to the monster. An ally.

And a reason to keep fighting. 

The monster dropped her as it swung its spear at Shino, knocking him from his horse. Cass found a yell of fear build in her chest. She could hold her tongue in acceptance of her own death, but she could not doom another with her foolishness. 

Not him. 

She could not lose him too. 

But the samurai found his feet, was knocked down and found them again. 

And then she saw it - _bushidō_ \- the way of honour, and courage. Of right action. She saw it on in the squaring of his shoulder, the set of his jaw. Shinokishi fought because it was the right thing to do, not because she had been a fool. 

They were there for a reason. A reason that had meaning beyond themselves. 

In the realisation of his Way, she remembered her own – the Shadow Path, the way of the hidden blade. She scrambled to her feet and ran for the cart, trusting that Shino understood. He had stepped in, both to save her and to free her to play her own part. To be swift as he was staunch. 

She ran for the cart, risking the monster’s retaliation. Judging the gap between the frightened women, she slid underneath, tabi boots spraying stones ahead of her. She tried to soothe the bound girls as she searched, hands running over the wood of the cart’s underside. The plans had to be there somewhere. 

They begged for her help, for their freedom. And she would help, if she could. But there were no promises in this life. 

As Piotr’s death had taught her. 

“Stay close to me and be ready to run.” 

They seemed to get the idea that she was searching for something and started to look, one of them finding the hidden compartment, the scroll case falling to the ground. 

With a sign of relief, she called out to Shino in Tien. “Got it!” She had not idea how far away the others were. Or if help was coming at all. 

If need be, she would leap for the rocks and hope she could survive the fall. Hope the mystic horse would bear Shino out in time. 

One of the girls caught her sleeve. “Blow the horn. It will destroy his forces.” 

For a moment Cass doubted. It seemed a dangerous risk, to call attention to themselves. But there was too much fear in the girl to lie, too much hope of her freedom riding on Cass’ shoulders.

Cass nodded and twisting through the confines of the cart’s underside to grab the scroll.

Just in time to see their allies join the fray. 

Jeff swinging his great axe as Shino fell back, clutching his chest. Celesti’s boots visible just a few metres away. The click of Remmy's crossbow.

“Blow the horn!” Cass shouted to the rebel leader, wriggling to get to her feet as she readied herself to run. To the frightened girls she called, “Stay here and stay low,” Her hand already on her wakizashi.

Then Everett crested the stone face of the cliff behind the monstrous king, his coat whipping in the wind. He called an insult in common, something Cass barely understood as he raised the twin barrelled long gun. 

And fired as he jumped down, haloed by the light of the setting sun.

An avenging spirit made flesh. 

The dual cracks of the shot echoed and the monster’s belly erupted, blood and viscera spraying out. 

The monster’s cry of pain and disbelief was music to her ears. 

Jeff, now red with gore swung his axe once more, taking the king’s leg, felling him like a tree.

With a rasping gurgle, the king breathed his last. 

The battle over for now. Cass found her feet and braced her back against the cart. 

_I own this pain. This pain in mine._

With a sharp twist and a sickening crack, she set her shoulder back into place. But still she refused to cry out. Even in death, she would not give him that. 

Celesti blew the horn, a sound much greater than any of them expected. In the far distance, the sounds of battle began to swell. What they had just done, Cass could not be sure. Only that it was done now. She only hoped the girls had spoken true. 

Shino was on his feet and talking in hush tones with Everett and Jeff. She could read the gratitude and respect in his posture, even if she could not hear his words. There was blood on his chest and back, the spear having passed through. He was hurt and badly, but taking the time to acknowledge their valour before seeing to his own wounds. It made her wonder what the others saw when they looked at him, what they understood of him.

She owed him her thanks and her apologies. But it was not the time or place for such a conversation. That would be a private matter, for them alone. Another thing that would not be fully understood by those not of Minkai. 

She turned away, focusing on the three women, freeing them from their bonds and finding cloaks to keep them warm as they come down from their panic and fear.

Everett came over, laughing and flirting with the women in a way that made Cass’ blood rise. But she saw the distraction in it too, the furtive looks he cast her way. And to the scroll case tucked in her obi.

She nodded an understanding and stepped past him, seeming to reach for something as she passed the case to him unseen. Then turning she covered line of sight as he slipped the case into his coat. 

The smoothness of the exchange made her think of the first time she saw him, cheating at cards at the tavern. Of how it had made her want to join him, to pit her own sleight of hand against his. 

How long ago had that been? A week? A month? A lifetime for one but for the rest, had they known each other so short a time? 

And yet, she had come to trust them. Some more than others. Some differently to others. 

Piotr had been the first friend she had allowed herself in over ten years. She had known him for only a handful of days, and yet she mourned him so fiercely she felt the shattering of worlds without him.

And Shinokishi – a man whose station was so far above her own that tradition dictated she dare not look him in the eyes. Yet when he came to her, checking in her even as his own blood dried, she reached for him. Meeting the storm blue of his eyes, she clasped his wrist, feeling his hand close around hers. She nodded to him, knowing there was respect and care and admiration between them. A mutual understand born both in their shared culture and the present turmoil. 

The sound of raised voices caught her ear and she looked up to see Everett’s friend closing on her, demanding the scroll. She gestured with a shrug and open hands, showing she didn’t have it. It wasn’t a lie but there must have been a reason Everett wanted to keep it a secret. They had been betrayed too many times already and she approved of his caution. 

But as Everett tried to subtly signal that he has the plans, only to have the man misunderstand, tempers boiled over and weapons were drawn. 

As Everett explained the deception, Cass stepped between the man and her own team. Her voice soft and low, she led him away a step. “The choice of secrecy is ours. We had been betrayed too often of late. To the death of one of our own.” She looked down at the hand she rested on his arm. “We buried him this morning. The soil from his grave is still on under my nails. Please understand, we are trying to protect you and ourselves. No harm was intended.”

Between them they seemed to sooth the caravan leader's temper and he eased his stance, apologising for his harsh words. Then much to Cass’ surprise, showed them the plans they had fought to retrieve. 

From what training the Shadow Way gave her to read such plans, Cass found herself in awe. He had not lied, machines like the one drawn would tip the scales of was. And in the hands of the Darthans, would effects would be terrible. 

She moved back a step, tending to the freed women to distract herself from the thought. And yet she found a calm come over her, content in some small way that their actions this day had not been in vain. The pallor of Piotr’s death still hung heavy, but even in its shadow, she felt a small moment of peace.


End file.
